From ancient times to the present, this is the pursuit of many officials. The reason why Wang Anshi's reform is criticized is mainly because it failed to improve the financial problems of the imperial court and failed to benefit the people.

Wu Shan didn't know whether he had learned a lesson, or if he was guarding the bottom line, and looked at Lin Haoran hopefully.

Faced with this kind of problem, the vast majority of people must have retreated, but Lin Haoran met Wu Shan's gaze and gave a positive answer: "Lord Taishan, the son-in-law does have a strategy to solve the difficulties of the court and benefit the people!" ”

"What's the solution?" Wu Shan looked at Lin Haoran and asked solemnly.

While chasing power, Lin Haoran did not forget the responsibility on his shoulders, in addition to sitting on the throne of Shoufu, but also to lead this Han dynasty to prosperity and strength.

He already had a plan in his heart, looked up at Wu Shan and said categorically: "Promote Jiangsu and Zhejiang to open the sea!" The imperial court vigorously developed the silk industry, exchanged silk for silver from the hands of the Francois people, and introduced overseas silver to enrich Taicang! ”

Although thanks to the irrigation of the two mother rivers, the most splendid Chinese civilization was born, and its science and technology once led the world. When it comes to the amount of silver, it is far from being the case of South America on the other side of the Pacific, which is a genuine silver scarcity.

The most effective way now is to promote overseas trade, exchange the fine goods of the Ming Dynasty from Spain or Portugal for silver from South America, and replenish the treasury with tariff revenues.

With the inflow of silver, it can not only enrich Taicang, but also stimulate the rapid development of the commodity economy.

This is Lin Haoran's expectation, and it is also his future political concept, through the opening of the sea to stimulate the commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty will become richer and stronger, and become a model for Southeast Asian countries.

Wu Shan can't say that he is an open sea faction, but he is not a forbidden sea faction, but Shen Yin shook his head and said, "This strategy is not appropriate!" At present, the Japanese in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have just subsided a little, and the imperial court has just taken a breath. If I propose to open the sea in Jiangsu and Zhejiang at this time, the risk here is too great, and now Daming cannot take this risk. Besides, Guangdong has achieved such good results, do you know why no one in Ningbo has mentioned reopening so far? ”

Although Lin Haoran has been back in the capital for nearly half a year, the water in the capital is too deep, and some things are not clear, so he immediately asked seriously: "Why is this?" ”

"Officials led by Yuan Wei are opposed!" Wu Shan met Lin Haoran's gaze and said word by word.

Jiangsu and Zhejiang are rich lands, so they have always attached importance to the imperial examination and trained many scholars to enter the officialdom. With Yuan Wei entering the cabinet, it has faintly become a force that cannot be underestimated in the court.

If they all stand up against it, not to mention that Yan Song's current power is not as good as before, don't be afraid that Yan Song at the peak will also consider the opinions of Jiangsu and Zhejiang officials.

"Father-in-law, do you know why they are against it?" Lin Haoran frowned and asked.

"Most of the voices of opposition are defending the ancestral system or worrying that the Japanese will get out of control, but this should not be the main reason, but I don't know the deeper reason, but I heard that the gentry and big landlords in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are very strongly opposed!" Wu Shan said with a heartfelt expression.

Lin Haoran suddenly grasped the key point, and the landlords or the gentry class who owned a large amount of land would indeed become an obstacle.

From their point of view, they are the beneficiaries of an agrarian economy, and are more eager for the people to fall into abject poverty or bankruptcy because of the need for tenant farmers or loans.

Naturally, they will not bring the real reason to the table, but letting their respective agents come forward and bite the ancestral system and the Japanese is enough to prevent the imperial court from opening the sea.

In order to resist the Japanese, the Ming Dynasty allocated a large amount of military spending to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and now it has just achieved some results. If Jiangsu and Zhejiang open up the sea, then once the Japanese rebellion resumes, it is indeed not a responsibility that anyone can bear.

Lin Haoran actually understood this for a long time, but he still looked at Wu Shan firmly and said: "If you want to thoroughly improve the finances of the imperial court and make the Ming Dynasty more prosperous and powerful, this opening of the sea is the best medicine." ”

"That's your point of view! It's just that I always feel that the root of all problems is the human heart! Compared with Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Luzon and other countries, the Ming Dynasty is so rich. Even if it is a flood year, the grain produced by the Ming Dynasty is also calculated in 100 million stones, how can it not solve the livelihood of the people? If officials can be self-disciplined, they will be able to keep the country and the people safe! Wu Shan said with confidence and expectation.

Lin Haoran knew that Wu Shan was an orthodox ruler, and hoped that through the promotion of etiquette, all officials in the world would be righteous men and gentlemen, so as to restore the prosperity of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Lin Haoran naturally couldn't convince Wu Shan, and Wu Shan's path couldn't be said to be wrong, at least Zhang Juzheng did a good job. The reason why he said the matter of opening the sea was that in addition to expressing his own political views, he also hoped that Wu Shan would attach importance to the opening of the sea, at least not evolve into a forbidden sea faction.

The housekeeper Wu Shan came up, removed the two bowls of mung bean candy, and re-sent the tea cup.

The moonlight tonight was very bright, and Weng sat opposite each other, and the white moonlight rendered the pavilion as if it were day.

From master and apprentice to son-in-law, and then to the current in-depth exchanges, the relationship between the two has obviously made a breakthrough.

Wu Shan naturally also paid attention to Lin Haoran's actions, looked at his achievements in opening the sea in Guangdong, and carefully examined the effect of opening the sea.

He had to admit that the opening of the sea did give Guangdong a lot of benefits, but he always had a concern: whether it was really a cost-effective deal to exchange the things of the Ming Dynasty for those inedible silver.

Lin Haoran was no longer entangled in the matter of opening the sea, and continued to offer advice: "The main sources of finance in the Ming Dynasty: grain tax and salt tax. The grain tax is enforced by the government! When the son-in-law was sent to the local area, he felt the deepest feeling about the corruption of local officials. If the court levies one more point, the government will levy two more points! ”

Wu Shan nodded lightly, drank tea and said: "In the past, when Jia Dongyang (Jia Yingchun) was the secretary of the household department, he made suggestions to the imperial court to determine the promotion of local officials with the effect of grain collection. However, in order to be promoted, the magistrates did not dare to ask for the local gentry, but forced some people to sell their sons and daughters! ”

Lin Haoran had heard that this was a good way to solve the financial problems, but it became a bad policy for the powerful or slippery officials of the evil gentry.

Wu Shan took a sip of tea, put down the teacup and said, "I'm afraid the salt tax won't work!" Yan Ge Lao asked Yan Maoqing to reorganize the salt administration, which has already made the salt merchants in the four places miserable, and I am afraid that they will not be able to levy more! ”

"Father-in-law, I'm afraid you're wrong!" Lin Haoran found that his father-in-law was confused by the salt merchants, and couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile.

Wu Shan's eyebrows were raised slightly, and he asked seriously: "If you are stupid, why do you stop talking?" ”

But on the side of the water pavilion, the mother and daughter of the Wu family were talking while eating melons and fruits. just gradually stopped talking, looking strange and happy at the pair of Weng sons-in-law who were talking eloquently, resolutely like a pair of old friends.